Council discusses Erickson Park plans

Erickson Park in Cathlamet may be in for a make over this year.

Trees in the park have taken a beating from wind storms in the past few years. Storms have fallen many of the trees, some of which are over 100 years old, and parts of the park are piles of slash and branches while other parts are tangled underbrush and blackberries.

Members of the Cathlamet town council want to straighten up the vegetation and remove dangerous trees that could fall on fences or buildings on adjacent property.

Mayor Richard Swart reported Tuesday that a committee has developed two concepts, and students from Wahkiakum High School are ready to create a landscaping plan and start work to put it in place.

Council members discussed the various proposals for a good portion of their meeting Tuesday without coming to a consensus on which concept to choose.

The sticking point is to determine how many of the large, old trees to fall and how many to leave standing. They'll schedule a special meeting before their regular February meeting to make that decision.

Swart reported touring the park with Bill Olsen, the town's consultant forester, and Jerry DeBriae of DeBriae Logging. DeBriae suggested that the town leave standing the large trees that are in good shape.

Others, however, fear the few large trees that are left will fall in future storms and damage property and perhaps injure someone.

The healthy trees likely don't have strong root systems, said Council Member John Hannah. There's such a small area left, he added, that it may not be worth the risk to leave them.

Council members agreed they didn't have enough information to decide whether or not the trees should be left, so they agreed to hold a special meeting with the foresters.

However, they did agree that tall trees along the park boundaries should be cut to minimize risk from storm damage.

Swart also reported that he had invited Wahkiakum High School staff and students to be part of the project.

WHS biology teacher Jeff Rooklidge and students Amanda Collier, Stian Vik and Jake Goldsmith outlined ideas they have developed about the project.

Rooklidge said classes led by a variety of teachers and students from vocational, technical and science classes would be involved. Advising would be Dr. Rob Stockhouse, a retired biology professor from Pacific University who has worked with WHS environmental classes.

In other business, the council authorized contractor Sam Longtain to obtain soil from the Elochoman Fish Hatchery to use to repair scars from a 2006 construction project.

Citizen Dean Snyder sought the work to repair scars on and around his property.

Extra soil will be dumped and stored in Erickson Park for other uses.

The project is expected to cost around $1,200.